Vault-light construction.



No. 663,l99. Patented Dec. 4, I900.

' W. H. SHEPARD.

VAULT LIGHT CONSTRUCTION.

I (Application filed Nov. 22, 1899.)

(No Model;)

a CL

NiTEED STATES PATENT Fries.

WILLIAM H. SHEPARD, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO 'I. H. BROOKS CO.,OF SAME PLACE.

VAU LT-LIG HT CONSTRUCTION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters latent No. 663,199, dated December4, 1900. Application filed November 22, 1899- Serial No. 737,945. (Nomodel.)

To all whont it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. SHEPARD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Vault-LightConstruction,of which the following is a full,clear, and exactdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

The object of my invention is to provide a sidewalk vault-light which,while being very cheap in construction and efficient in service, shallbe so arranged that it may be conveniently kept in stock and built up toaccom modate any required size of opening. To this end I have devised aframe built up of units, each consisting of a structural channel memberhaving openings in its base and vertical sides, and I place these unitswith their sides abutting and bolt or rivet them together, covering theopenings in the base with lights suit-ably held in place.

The invention consists of a vault-light so constructed.

The invention may also be defined as consisting of the combinations ofparts hereinafter described, and specified in the claims.

The drawings clearly disclose my invention.

Figure l is a perspective view of the construction complete, the frontedge being a vertical section. Fig. 2 is a plan of one of the channelmembers, showing some of the lights in place. Figs. 3 and 4 are verticallongitudinal and transverse sections, respectively, of one of the lightsshown in Fig. 2; Fig. 5, a perspective view of such light, and Fig. 6 aperspective View of a modified form of light.

Referring to the parts by letters, A represents a channel-iron which ispreferably made of steel rolled into the channel shape shown, consistingof the base a and the walls or sides a. Through the base are punched aseries of holes a of such size as to leave considerable of the base allaround them. These channel members are placed side by side across thespace to be bridged. For example, each channel member extendstransversely across such portion of the sidewalk as is to be madetranslucent, or, where the sidewalk is very wide, from one longitudinalbeam thereunder to another. These channel-irons are secured together byscrews, bolts, or rivets 13, extending from the wall of one channelmember into the next.

The lights, which may be transparent or translucent glass, aredesignated C. Their horizontal surface may be rectangular, as shown inFig. 5, or circular, as in Fig. 6. In each case their sides depend fromthe edge of the top surface at right angles thereto for a distance atleast as great as the distance from the upper surface of the base a ofthe channel to the top of the walls a thereof. At a distance above thebottom of the light equal to the thickness of the channel-bottom thelight has an abrupt shoulder, which is caused by a rabbet being formedat the lower corners, there being thus left an annular surface 0parallel with the top, while below this shoulder is the integral boss 0,which is substantially the same in dimension as the hole (t The bottomsurface of the light is parallel with the top surface, and thus when thelights are placed in the holes a inthe channelirons their bosses centirely fill those holes,whereby they are held securely in place, whilethe top surface of the light is above or level with the top of the wallsa and the bottom surface of the light is level with the bottom of thechannel-irons. After the lights are thus placed in the channel-irons theintervening space is filled with cement, (designated D,) whereupon thecomplete construction has substantially the appearance shown in Fig. 1.

The ad vantages of this construction are that the channel-irons being ofrolled steel are cheap to construct and strong, and the construction isadaptable for all sizes of openings. Channel-irons may be simply kept instock and cut off the right length and the right number of them used. Incase of subsequent breakage only the part damaged need be replaced. Thelights are securely held in place and the filling-cement is relievedfrom all strain. Both the upper and lower surfaces of the constructionare easily cleaned, as they are absolutely smooth throughout.

Having described my invention, I claim 1. A frame for a vault-coverconsisting of a plurality of comparatively long and narrow channelmembers facing upward, each chanl nel member having a perforated bottomplate and vertical sides, the sides of consecutive members abutting, andbolts or rivets passing through suoh abutting sides and se sealed theirouter sides, there being light-openings through the base and bolt orrivet openings through the flanges, and a row of lights Within thechannel member over the lightopenings, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence oftwo Witnesses;

WM. H. SHEPARD.

Witnessesi I ALBERT H. BATES, JAMES-A. FORD.

